Eat on 30 Project – Day 6 Rollatini di Pollo {Chicken Rollatini}

Yes, you knew there was going to be a chicken recipe somewhere in this week! If you’ve just tuned in to my little corner of the web & are wondering what all this Eat on 30 talk is about. CLICK HERE to read all about the introductory post. It also has a list of all the fab foodies participating (you should def click on over to their sites when you’re done! They’re writing some amazing stories & sharing some fab recipes) We’re doing our best to bring awareness to food/hunger issues this week.

We’re nearing the end of the challenge and I must say that I’ve eaten WAY better than I thought I ever would on this budget. It has taken some planning & creativity yes. But I didn’t resort to my college staples of Ramen Noodles & Mac & Cheese (I know I’m not the only one, we’ve all been there!) I have used EVERY single ounce of food purchased. I stretched each dollar as far as it could go. I was inspired to see how much I could actually do with the little that I had.

Today was challenging because the bambini were out of school on Fall break which means hungry kids running around the house all day & circling the kitchen waiting on Mommy to go downstairs or upstairs to see what they could sneak (oh yes they did try, luckily I have eyes in the back of my head, don’t all you Mommys? *wink wink)

Lunch: Leftovers FREE (hello how much do I love you leftovers!)Lunch Total: 0 (woo hoo)

Snacks: Popcorn, Frozen Nutella Bananas (okay I must stop here & say don’t those look GOOD! They were out of SIGHT delicious! I am posting the recipe the beginning of November as my Nutella Challenge Entry! You will def want to make these! I might actually make them again this week, Crazy Good!)Snack Total: $4.12 (makes 12 treats)

Notes: I found 3 large chicken breasts on sale for $2.20. Normally that would NOT feed my entire family of 5 BUT since I decided to pound out the chicken, stuff it, roll it up & slice it into rounds, it was Plenty! Great tip. I also can find fresh Mozzarella balls at my local Super Walmart for $3.50 (YEP, hard to believe. I think I might be one of the few people that buys it’s but hey, better for me, no?) & I only used 1/2 in this recipe.

Here’s another reason I love my Herb Garden! The Pesto I used was some that I already made. Price Breakdown $6.50 for Pinenuts (I know nuts are crazy high) & the Basil/Olive/S&P were FREEbies (remember I grow the Basil in my deck garden), the Parmigiano Reggiano I used was about a $1.00’s worth from a huge chunk I have for a total of $7.50 for the Pesto (yes seems a little pricey) but I only used 1/3 of this here for a total of $2.50 for this recipe. You’ll see that I also use the Pesto again in tomorrow’s dish making it even more cost effective.

Grand Total for Day: $15.77 (UNDER BUDGET, even having the kids home all day)

BTW I’m thinking I’m getting much better at this math thing! & here I thought I could only do math when a sale was in front of me tee hee!

What to do:
Place your chicken breasts (one at a time) into a ziplock bag and with a mallet (using the flat side) pound them fairly thin (without tearing them). Lay your chicken breasts out flat & spread a tbsp of Pesto onto the inside. Lay 1-2 slices of mozzarella cheese ontop of the pesto. Roll the chicken breast up as tightly & evenly as possible & secure with toothpicks. Continue until all pieces are assembled. Lightly season outside of chicken with s/p. In a large pan add a few turns of olive oil & heat over medium heat until oil is hot. Add chicken breasts. Brown chicken on each side. This should take about 6-8 mins. (NOTE: the amount of YOUR cook time, will depend upon the thickness of your chicken so use your judgement) Allow chicken to rest for 4-5 minutes prior to slicing. Remove toothpicks & slice the chicken prior to serving.

Thanks Kim! Yes I think I stalked the sale bins & I made quick friends with the nice people in the meat department (asking which days they marked their meat down, etc.) It’s amazing what you’ll find out if you just ask! & YES those Nutella Bananas were insanely delicious. I’ll have that posted on the 1st of the month. Can’t wait to share those!

I just wanted to say that I don’t always get the time to comment but am reading every post with great interest. I think you are totally rocking this challenge and it’s a wonderful how well you are eating on so little. You are an inspiration to us all!

Paula, you are amazing! The banana coconut snacks are AWESOME!! Going to be making this for the kiddos!! Pounding the chicken, awesome idea! If the eaton30 happens again, I’ll definitely take more time to think this out. You did such an amazing job! Loved reading through all of your posts 🙂 BESOS!!!

Mmm.. my mouth is watering. This chicken rollatini looks so good! Thanks for the recipe. I think I’m going to add this to this week’s dinner menu!

The bananas look yummy, too. I make a similar snack by just drizzling the bananas with melted milk chocolate and sprinkling them with chopped peanuts. But my husband would love the nutella and coconut. Will keep this recipe in mind. 😉

First of all you and Tami have inspired me to try this with my family. Hope to get through the week! We are starting today, October 20.

Also I hope you don’t mind but I copied your opening post and graphic to my site for an intro! just love your graphic! and a link to you, too. I do not get much traffic as I am new to blogging though…This is more of a personel challenge for me and the family!

You’re doing such a good job!! and the chicken looks awesome! I find that when I butterfly the chicken it goes further. must be a mental thing…they see what looks like a whole breast in front of them when it’s really only half LOL

That chicken is beautiful! I am so impressed with your creativity throughout the challenge. It does feel nice to be done though, right? Your photos, too, are always stunning, Paula. I have photo envy 🙂